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4 more qualify for US House, Ga. Senate

Today is last day to get on special election ballot

From staff reports

POSTED:March 30, 2010 11:12 p.m.

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Election calendarToday: Final day to qualifying for special electionFriday: Last day to register to vote in special electionApril 26-30: Candidate qualifying for state primaryMay 11: Special election to fill open seatsJune 8: Special election runoff, if neededJune 21: Last day to register to vote in state primaryJuly 20: State primaryAug. 10: State primary runoff, if neededSept. 21: Special election to fill vacanciesOct. 4: Last day to register to vote in general electionNov. 2: General electionNov. 30: General election runoff, if needed

Three more candidates — Democrat Mike Freeman, Republican Steve Tarvin and Independent Eugene Moon — qualified Tuesday to run in a special election to fill Nathan Deal’s vacant 9th District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Also Tuesday, Butch Miller, a Gainesville businessman, qualified for the state Senate District 49 seat as a Republican. The seat became open when incumbent Sen. Lee Hawkins resigned to seek Deal’s seat.

Both seats will be filled in a special election on May 11. To run, candidates must qualify by noon today.

Freeman is the only Democrat in the congressional race so far. He is an Oakwood resident, running his first campaign for an elected office.

Tarvin, president and CEO of Crystal Springs Print Works, a textile mill in Chickamauga, joins five others Republicans, who qualified Monday.

Moon is running for the seat as an Independent. To be on the November ballot, state law requires Moon to have a petition with signatures from 5 percent of the district’s eligible voters. In the 9th District, where there are 394,000 registered voters, Moon needs about 20,000 signatures.

Moon doesn’t need the signatures to qualify for the special election because it is nonpartisan.

Republicans Tom Graves of Ranger, Lee Hawkins of Gainesville, Bill Stephens of Cumming, Chris Cates of Blairsville and Bert Loftman of Jasper qualified Monday for the May 11 congressional election.

Hawkins’ participation in the congressional election leaves his state Senate seat vacant. Until last week, Hawkins was the senator for Georgia District 49.

On Tuesday, Miller, dealer-manager of the local Honda dealership, became the third candidate to seek the seat. Miller is a Flowery Branch resident who is also seeking political office for the first time.

Jimmy Norman, a Republican from Flowery Branch, and Brandon Givens, a Libertarian from Gainesville, both qualified Monday.